Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop Analysis in a Plate Heat Exchanger

ABSTRACT

The traditional design methods for plate heat exchangers (PHEs) involve many trails in order to meet the pressure drop constraints. The present thermal hydraulic model described in this study is based on the relationship between heat transfer, pressure drop and heat exchanger area. The model input mainly consists of operating and geometrical parameters. The operating parameters include fluid inlet temperatures and fluid mass flow rates. Geometrical parameters are number of plates, equivalent diameter, and port diameter, pass number, projected plate length, path numbers of fluids, plate width, corrugation angle and plate thickness. Martin’s correlations for friction factor and heat transfer coefficient for chevron-type PHEs are employed through curve fitting. The model predictions of present thermo-hydraulic formulation for chevron-type PHEs match satisfactorily with the experimental data available in the literature.

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